Hey, Dad
by Phoebe-Janeway
Summary: I wonder whether Admiral Paris ever did receive the letter Tom wrote during his 30 days in the brig


Hey, Dad

"Well I'm out now and back to my duties. I honestly don't know if I'll ever under stand you or what went wrong between us but I hope this letter helps you understand me a little better"

"End of recording"

I lent back in my chair, Voyager had been back in the Alpha Quadrant for less than a day when I had received a letter from the ship, I had been surprised to find it was from my son and that it had been written almost 3 years ago. As I listened to my sons voice, his journey to protect the ocean and his emotions while in Voyagers brig I had slowly gotten to know him and just how much he had changed under Kathryn's command

"Admiral?" a young ensign was calling me across the com

"Yes"

"Someone from Voyager is on the com sir"

"Who?" I sat up

"Lieutenant Paris sir"

"Put him through to my office now"

"Putting him through now sir"

"Thank you ensign, Paris out"

When I turned my console and as soon as I had his face appeared

"Hey, Dad"

"Tom" I could feel tears in my eyes

"So how you been?" I could tell he felt uncomfortable

"Much better now you back in the quadrant" Then there was a baby's cry in the background

"Oh Miral" Tom walked away from the screen and came back a few moments later with a baby. She was beautiful, her little face, her forehead that was obviously from B'elanna but her eyes though they were brown I could see Tom in them

"Say hello to your granddaddy Miral" To my surprise her tears and wails stopped as she looked at me

"Hello Miral" I took a slow deep breath "She's beautiful Tom"

"I know she looks just like her mother"

"Oi Fly-Boy" I could hear my daughter-in-laws voice but she was not on the screen "If you think flattery is going to get you off the two in the morning change then you are so wrong"

"I wasn't trying to I was talking to my dad"

"Your dad?" Then I could see B'elanna's face at the edge of the screen

"Owen, Hi"

"Hello B'elanna, How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted, exhausted and euphoric"

"Good, oh she is so beautiful" My tears were threatening to spill now

"We know" Miral began to cry again "Here tom give her to me" I watched as Tom handed her over to his wife, he was so gentle there was so much love there. I only wish I had shown him the love I feel before. It was then I saw just how much he had changed, 7 years ago I would have sadly laughed at the thought of Tom being a senior crew member on any Starfleet ship or the thought of him being happily married with a child, B'elanna took Miral out of the room

"Tom I…" I paused Tom looked uncomfortable again

"I know what your going to say dad, and yea I know I will have to go back to new Zealand and B'elanna will have to join me but no matter what but I wanna make sure Miral is safe" I could see all that love still there in his eyes but there was pain and worry too

"Tom you won't have to go back"

"But"

"Tom you are not going back there I fought for you against other admirals the moment you returned, you won't have to go back" I stopped letting the news sink in "I'm not so sure about B'elanna" Tom opened his mouth to protest I quickly finished my sentence "But I will fight on her behalf and on behalf of all the former Marquis, I'm sure Kathryn will too"

"Thank you dad" My tears rolled down my cheeks

"I've missed you son"

"I missed you to but to be honest I didn't think you would miss me at all, I'm a … what did you call me again oh yea a disgrace to the Paris family and all that the Paris's before me" If Tom had said that to me before Voyager there would have been so much anger and sarcasm in his voice but now there was only sadness

"Tom, you are not a disgrace in any way I was angry I never meant it I am so sorry son" Tom remained silent "Thank you" Tom looked confused

"For what?"

"The letter"

"What letter?"

"The one you wrote in Voyagers brig"

"You got that?"

"I got it almost two hours ago"

"Oh, I'm sorry to be honest I completely forgot about that, sorry dad I know it's a load of rubbish"

"No Tom, Thank you it has really helped me to get to know the man you are"

"It was written like three years ago how can you possibly know who I am now?"

"Well it has helped me you see what kind of person you are"

"And what kind of person is that?" he crossed his arms firmly

"A kind, sensible, smart, loyal and loving man"

"I was all those things before dad but you never saw them you were too busy seeing what a failure I was in Starfleet"

"no you aren't a failure and don't you ever thing that I thought that because I didn't, you ask Kathryn she will tell you when I was her mentor and captain I was always talking about you how proud I was, what a smart boy you were, I love you Tom" He looked at me a confused expression on his face as if he wasn't sure whether to believe me or not "I'm sorry I wasn't much of a father to you I was so focused on you becoming a Starfleet officer like me I didn't ever think that you wouldn't want to, I never gave you a choice and I am so so sorry for that Tom, after all the terrible things I have done can you ever forgive me?" he still looked slightly undecided about it but he looked sad too

"Can you ever forgive me dad?" now it was my turn to look confused "You're not the only one who made mistakes dad I did to, like the crash, it was an accident but if I had come forward and told every one earlier that it was my fault I think it would have been better for everyone, then joining the maquis, I don't regret that but I wish I hadn't seen that disappointed look in you eyes when they transported me away" I wish he hadn't too "So dad, Can you ever forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive you for, you did nothing wrong on purpose"

"And neither did you"

"What?"

"You didn't deliberately try to upset me, I know that now"

"So are we good Tom?"

"Yea dad were good" he smiled, a smile I know I once had before the Cardassians

"I love you Tom"

"I love you too Dad" I thought I would never hear those words come from my son again, come to think of it four hours ago I thought I would never see my son again

"Tom" I could just see B'elanna at the edge of the screen, a sleeping Miral in her arms "I know you're excited to see and talk to your dad again but can I use that in a few minutes I wanna talk to someone"

"Sure honey just let me say good bye ok" B'elanna walked back off screen

"I have to go dad"

"I know, I am so proud of you Tom, Look at you you're doing what you always wanted to, your flying a star ship, you have a wonderful wife and a beautiful daughter, I'm proud of you son"

"You don't know how much that means to me dad" Tom looked tearful

"I know I should have said it a long time ago, well come on we don't want to keep B'elanna waiting"

"No we don't"

"I love you, Bye Tom; see you when you get to Earth?"

"Definitely, I love you too, see you soon dad" he leaned forward smiling and ended the call. That was almost half an hour ago now; I just keep going over our conversation in my head. I have missed my boy, I wasn't there for him while he was growing up but I'm going to change that, I'm going to be there for him now, I'm going to be there for Tom, B'elanna and my baby granddaughter

"Admiral?" the ensign's voice breaks the silence of the room

"Yes"

"You have another call from Voyager sir, it's Captain Janeway sir" I smile, I seem to be a popular man today

"Put her through ensign" a few moments later Kathryn's face fills the view screen

"Hello Admiral Paris"

"Kathryn, I haven't seen you in seven years I don't think this is any time for formalities"

"Oh alright then, Hello Owen" her smile could practically light up the whole of the solar system.

"Hello Kathryn"

"We're back"

"I know I just got off from a call with Tom"

"He's changed a lot Owen"

"Oh I know Kathryn" I look down at the PADD in my hand, the PADD with a letter on that I will treasure forever "I know"

…

Well that's what I came up with, this all came to me in the middle of the night when I was half asleep so please don't think to harshly of it … there were two things I was going to ask you to do … oh yea first REVIEW PLEASE … second would any one like me to continue Real Life After Death? Because at the moment I am not sure whether I am going to continue it if any of you guys want me to then please tell me … well I hope you liked my story if not I don't know why our still reading this really long authors note, well I really do hope you liked it and please review, thanks

~Phoebe~


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